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Carter v. Progressive Mountain Ins.

The Court of Appeals erred in its application of the motor vehicle insurance limited liability release provision of O.C.G.A. § 33-24-41.1.

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This Court granted a writ of certiorari to the Court of Appeals in Carter v. Progressive Mountain Ins., 320 Ga. App. 271 739 SE2d 750 2013, to determine if that Court properly applied the motor vehicle insurance limited liability release provision of OCGA § 33-24-41.1.1 Finding that the Court of Appeals erred, we reverse that Court’s judgment.

Velicia Carter “Carter” was injured in a February 22, 2010 automobile collision with Jeova Claudino Oliviera “Oliviera”; it was alleged that Oliviera was under the influence of alcohol at the time. Oliviera had an auto liability insurance policy with GEICO General Insurance Company “GEICO” with a $30,000 per person liability limit. Carter was insured by Progressive Mountain Insurance Company “Progressive”, including uninsured/underinsured motorist “UM” coverage of $25,000 per person. Carter sued Oliviera and served Progressive as her UM carrier, and entered into a settlement in which GEICO paid the $30,000 limit of Oliviera’s policy, and Carter executed a limited liability release pursuant to OCGA § 32-24-41.1; it allocated $29,000 of GEICO’s payment to punitive damages and $1,000 to compensatory damages. Progressive answered the suit as Carter’s UM carrier and sought summary judgment on the UM claim, which the trial court granted, ruling that, by imposing the condition that $29,000 of the liability coverage limit be allocated to the payment of punitive damages, Carter failed to meet a prerequisite for recovery of the UM benefits. The Court of Appeals affirmed, finding that, by allocating a portion of the payment to punitive damages, rather than allocating all of the payment to compensatory damages, Carter failed to exhaust the limits of Oliviera’s liability policy, and, therefore, forfeited the ability to make a claim on her UM policy, concluding that OCGA § 32-34-41.1 allows an injured party to settle a claim and then recover UM benefits “only to the claimant’s actual injuries or losses and not to punitive damages.” Carter, supra at 274. Further facts can be found in the opinion of the Court of Appeals.

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